Crash and Burn
by Sarge1
Summary: The team is heading home after case, but when their plane goes down in the Rocky Mountains, they have to battle injuries, the elements, and a forest fire in order to survive. JJCentric, but still involving all the team.
1. Crash

Title: Crash and Burn

Author: Sarge1

Rating: T

Summary: The team is heading home after case, but when their plane goes down in the Rocky Mountains, they have to battle injuries, the elements, and a forest fire in order to survive. JJ-Centric, but still involving all the team.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Criminal Minds peeps. (If I did, I'd give JJ more to do…) I'm just playing with them.

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**CHAPTER 1 – Crash  
**

"You cheat."

Reid's mouth dropped open in indignation. "I do not cheat!"

"He counts cards," JJ chimed in from where she was in the back of the plane getting a bottle of water. The team –minus Gideon, who had stayed behind because he had to teach, and, of course, Garcia because she rarely left her computer lab– was returning home from a rather nasty case in Oregon involving the kidnappings and murder of seven young women. The unsub had ended up being a dejected and hapless man in his late twenties who had snapped after the only girlfriend he had ever had and wanted to marry, broke up with him to date one of his coworkers. The case had been rather brutal on all of the team and while they were happy they had solved the case, they were even happier to be going home.

"I…well, only sometimes…" the resident genius conceded, shooting JJ a look, one in which she returned with a cheeky smirk.

"And that's cheating," Morgan declared, also smirking, as he took the deck of cards from Spencer and then leaned back in his chair to shuffle them himself.

"Well, the actual counting of cards isn't necessarily cheating, not if that's just how your brain works," Reid pointed out. "It's the intent in which you count them that determines whether or not the act is actually immoral."

"Yeah, yeah." Morgan shook his head and continued to shuffle.

JJ began to move back to her seat beside Reid when the plane suddenly lurched, sending her stumbling into the back of Emily's. Turbulence continued to rattle the jet for a few more seconds before it finally calmed.

"You ok, JJ?" the brunette woman asked, looking over her shoulder at the blonde.

JJ nodded. "I hate it when it does that."

"Maybe you should sit down," Hotch suggested, momentarily glancing up from the book he was reading to raise an eyebrow at her.

"I will," she replied, "after I check with Hampton and Cannon that rattling and rolling won't be a constant facet for the rest of the flight." No one protested as she crossed the rest of the cabin to the divider and headed into the cockpit. They all knew she wasn't exactly a fan of bumpy rides. Not that the rest of them were either, but JJ in particular seemed the least fond of them. The others theorized it had to do with some sort of motion sickness she might have, but she utterly refused to admit to anything of the sort. Typical JJ –always seeming to have the need to be constantly strong in front of everyone else.

"Hey boys," JJ greeted the two pilots, James Cannon and David Hampton, as she entered the cockpit, "Are we having a little turbulence trouble?"

David looked over his shoulder at her. He and Cannon were two of the Bureau's pilots and were, for the most part, assigned to fly the BAU around. It wasn't uncommon for JJ to come up and "harass" them about a little bumpiness, and he found it rather amusing. "It's nothing to worry about, Ma'am," he assured her with a smirk. 

"Uh huh, you know that confidence I'm now supposed to be feeling? Yeah, not feelin' it," she retorted dryly.

"Hey now, we haven't crashed yet, have we?" David replied, grinning. He was a married man with two kids, but that didn't stop him from flirting with everyone female with two legs and a head.

JJ raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "There's a first time for everything, Dave."

James shook his head. He was definitely the less jovial of the two pilots. "We had to alter course slightly to avoid a bad storm. That put us over some of the higher peaks of the Rockies and the turbulence is just a little bit of wind blowing up from there."

Pulling a face, the blonde woman leaned against the dividers frame and continued to look at the two men. "So, I'm assuming that means there will be more turbulence then?"

"Nothin' you need to worry your pretty little head about," was David's reply.

JJ rolled her eyes.

"He's right, Agent Jareau," James stated, "The turbulence shouldn't be a problem for much longer. Just go back into the cabin and try to relax."

"Yeah. Maybe take a nap?" David suggested, smirking again. "You look like you could use it."

"Oh, thanks, Dave," JJ deadpanned. "Your powers of flattery would astound even James Bond." Each word was dripping with sarcasm.

"Yeah, that's what his wife tells him before sending him to sleep on the couch," James decided to input, showing just a bit of his humor.

"Ha ha, we've got a funny guy here," David grumbled, narrowing his eyes at his copilot.

With the corners of her lips curling up just a bit, JJ reached forward and patted both men on the shoulder. "Ok, I'll leave you two to it, then," she said before making a quick retreat.

As she passed through the divider again, she couldn't help but wonder about how tired she really looked. Surely if David could see it, her teammates had to as well. Was it really that bad? Ok, yeah, she hadn't slept well in…well, a while, more so after her run in with the dogs in the barn when Reid had gone missing. She used to have nightmares before, sure. She had started having them after her first real case with the Bureau, but none so terrifying as the ones she had been having recently. She actually dreaded sleeping now and generally tried to avoid it until the last possible moment.

"…the word?"

It was only then that she realized that someone was talking to her. She looked up, blinked, a blank look on her face. "What?"

Morgan frowned and glanced at Hotch for a quick moment before returning his attention to the blonde woman. "I asked, 'What's the word?'"

"The word?" JJ still looked confused.

"…On the turbulence."

"Oh." JJ made a conscious effort to wipe the befuddled look off of her face before adding, "Cannon says it shouldn't be a problem. Just some wind off of the Rockies." Just as the words were out of her mouth, the plane shuddered again, jolting JJ forward. She would have fallen flat on her face if she hadn't caught herself on Hotch's chair.

"I think that was a more than just a little wind," Emily said, gripping her armrests tightly.

Morgan gave the brunette a look. "Ya think?"

"JJ, maybe you should sit down?" Reid suggested in concern, repeating what Hotch had said to her earlier.

JJ gave the genius an _'Uh, yeah,'_ look in return as she straightened up and moved towards the seat next to him, but before she could reach him, the earsplitting noise of what sounded like metal tearing reverberated through the cabin and then the jet suddenly began to plummet. JJ had no time to react before she was thrown backward and cracked her head hard against the divider corner. The next thing she knew was blackness.

TBC…

(A/N: Hope you liked the first chapter! Remember to CLICKY CLICKY the little button and let me know what you think! Need reviews to survive! More to come soon!)


	2. Survival First

Title: Crash and Burn

Author: Sarge1

Rating: T

Summary: The team is heading home after case, but when their plane goes down in the Rocky Mountains, they have to battle injuries, the elements, and a forest fire in order to survive. JJ-Centric, but still involving all the team.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Criminal Minds peeps. (If I did, I'd give JJ more to do…) I'm just playing with them.

**Author's Notes:** Before this chapter begins, I just wanted to thank everyone personally for their reviews. I wasn't expecting such an overwhelming response to this story and I'm so thrilled that y'all like it! So, yes, without further ado:

_mabelreid_ – Angsty is what I live for! Haha! I thought it would be interesting to do a story that didn't involve a case and was more about character development. I'm glad you seem to think the same!

_Ally_ – Here ya go! Next chappy! Thanks for the review!

_ShawnGF_ – Thank you! I've really enjoyed reading your fics as well. JJ is the best!

_Ischia_ – Thank you! Thank you:-D

_butterflybaby_ – Breathe! Here's the next chapter! LOL! -hugs-

_alex_ – I totally agree! There are never enough JJCentric fics!

_withoutatacegirl_ – Glad ya liked the first chapter!

_sydcasy_ – Thanks! Here's the next chapter! Hope ya like it!

_JMcK_ – I totally know what you mean about seeing "JJCentric" and it making your day! It always makes my day, too! I was actually worried about keeping everyone in character as this is the first CM fic, but I'm glad to know that everything seems to be in order. Thanks for the review!

_hpcrzyfb_ – Here's your update! I hope you like this chapter, too!

_ReidLover12_ – Thanks for the review! I was aiming for unique and I'm glad you see it that way!

_SpencerReidFan89_ – Haha! Sorry, but I'm afraid you'll probably be faced with a few more cliffies in the upcoming chapters, but I'll try my best not to make them TOO painful. Glad ya love it!

_Cassandra30_ – Thank you! I was just going to kill the pilots right off, but your review was what inspired this chapter, so thank you (again)!

_REIDFANATIC_ – Thanks for the review! I'm writing as fast as my brain will allow!

_princess89_ – dun Dun DUN! Gotta love suspense! And I'm glad you're lovin' the story so far! Hope ya like the next chapter!

_hotchner_ – Magnificent? Fantastic? Wow, I'm so flattered I'm blushing! Don't worry about Hotch! I'll keep him in one piece for ya! Thanks for the review!

_Ryuzaki_ – ROFL!!! As you wish, your Highness! It's not going to be a Reid-Centric fic, but don't worry, he does get hurt!

_yegbb10_ – Thanks! I thought a plane crash would be interesting, too! Here's your update!

_Sarmoti_ – Thanks for the review! Don't worry, I have no plans of really making this a serious JJ/Reid fic. I'm trying to keep it as close to the show as I can. It's gonna be about all of the team, but with just a little more focus on JJ because she never gets enough attention.

_Scrawn_ – Here's your update, my dear! And yes, YAY for JJ stories!

_vamoarribauruguay_ – I know what ya mean! I love Reid too, but I need a little variety (preferably of the JJ kind)! Anyway, fear not, here's the next chapter!

_Mia Shade_ – Well Mia Shade, thank goodness you're OFF the plane now! I'd hate to cause you any unnecessary pre-flight jitters! LOL! Thanks for the review and I hope ya like this chapter!

_noe224evr_ – There just needs to be more JJ everything! hehehe

_AscaDuin_ – Hahaha! I actually like flying, but turbulence can definitely be freaky!! Thanks for the review!

_joyce craig_ – Glad ya like it!! -hugs-

_mouse_ – I'm really glad that you're liking it so far!

_TutorGirlml_ – No dying! Dying is not allowed! LOL! hugs Here's the next chapter, now liiiiiiive!

I HOPE I GOT EVERYONE! If not, yell at me and I'll give you a special shout out in the next chapter!

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**CHAPTER 2 – Survival First **

JJ wasn't sure exactly what had begun to bring her out of the darkness –the harsh sounds, the choking smells, or the pure agony radiating from both her head and side. It could have been any one or even all of them, she didn't know. What she did know though was that she _really_ didn't want to leave the darkness now that she knew some very unpleasant things awaited her. Alas, one low and very persistent sound continued to draw her closer and closer to the surface of consciousness.

"…JJ?" It was a voice, a very familiar voice. "JJ, I need you to wake up."

There was a pause and then suddenly the blonde coughed, her eyes snapping open at the blinding pain the act shot through her side. She blinked a couple of times, her vision very blurry.

"JJ?"

"Hotch?" she wheezed. She could see his silhouette and just barely make out the worried look on his face.

"Thank God," the man breathed, his expression relieved for just a moment before he said, "Can you tell me what hurts? Neck, back…?" Spinal injuries were what he was most concerned with at the moment.

JJ blinked again. Her head was throbbing so badly she thought it might explode. "What-what's going on?" It was obvious that she was very confused.

Hotch sucked in a deep breath as he took either side of her face and forced her to look directly at him. "JJ, I need you to focus for me. Does your back, neck, or legs hurt at all? Can you move your limbs?"

It took her a moment, but finally she forced herself past the confusion and pain to find a reply for his questions. A few seconds past and then she finally said, "Yeah. I think I'm ok." Well, ok besides the aching skull and throbbing side.

He nodded. "Good. Now, we have to get out of the plane, so I'm going to help you up, ok?" He was speaking slowly, but she easily sensed the urgency in his tone.

"Out of the-…What?" Out of plane? Had they already landed? The blinding pain in her head was making it really hard to concentrate.

Hotch didn't answer her questions and instead began to carefully coax her up into a sitting position. Her head immediately swam, but then cleared enough to answer in affirmation when he asked if she was ready to try to stand. He took her by her upper arms and slowly pulled her upward. Pain ripped down her side and she swore she could feel something moving around. She made it to her feet though. Her knees buckled slightly and her vision swam again, but Hotch kept her upright.

It was only then, when she was standing, that she recognized the pungent smell that had been assaulting her senses since she had begun to regain consciousness. It was smoke. She turned her head, frowning. "Is that smoke?" she asked.

"We crashed," Hotch told her point blank as he began to carefully lead her over the debris to where they had popped open the door. Thankfully it hadn't been too damaged in the crash and had only needed a couple rough pushes to get it to open.

JJ blinked. Crashed? They had _crashed_? "Oh my God," she breathed, memories of the turbulence and the conversation with the pilots and the others rushing back to her. "Is everyone ok?" As she asked the question, she turned her head to the right, getting a quick glimpse into the cockpit. It was completely destroyed.

Before her question could be answered, they reached the door. The light from outside sent fiery daggers through JJ's skull, but she quickly masked the pain and waited for her eyes to adjust. A moment later, she was able to survey the mayhem outside.

Emily, who was favoring her right arm and bleeding from a nasty cut above her eyebrow, was sitting beside Reid, leaning over the man and talking to him quietly, obviously trying to either calm him or get him to stay awake. JJ couldn't hear what was being said. Morgan was carrying Hampton in a fireman lift a few feet in front of her and Hotch. He seemed to be ok, but Hampton on the other hand, she wasn't so sure. And then her eyes finally settled on what she could only guess was Cannon. He, or his body, was covered by one of the blankets from the jet. She swallowed hard. He hadn't made it.

Morgan placed David down as carefully as he could and then kneeled over him for a moment. He said something quietly to the man before rising again to his feet and heading back past JJ and Hotch into the plane.

"I'm ok now, Hotch," JJ said slowly. She wanted, _needed_, to check on the others.

"Are you sure?" he questioned, concern evident in his voice.

She looked at him, swallowing again, and then nodded. The latter made her head swim again and she had to close her eyes for a moment to quell the nausea that was rising up her throat. Either Hotch didn't notice or he just wasn't saying anything. "I'm sure."

Hotch nodded in return, letting her go. "I still want you to sit down 'til we can get an assessment of everyone's conditions."

"Ok," she replied. Since Reid already had Emily, she figured the best thing to do would be to check on David. "I'll go sit with Hampton; keep him company."

"All right. Morgan and I are going to get what we can out of the plane and then we'll be back out to help with everyone." He gave her one long last look to be sure she wouldn't collapse right there and once satisfied that she wouldn't, he finally turned back around, returning to the wreckage.

Taking a tentative first step, JJ's legs felt wobbly, but thankfully didn't just buckle. She walked slowly over toward the Hampton, glancing briefly at Cannon's blanket-covered form, still and breathless. She swallowed hard. She couldn't believe this had happened.

"Come to gloat?" David's hoarse voice pulled her attention over to him.

JJ frowned, wondering how he could even think such a thing, but then quick caught his strained smirk and caught on. "Never," she replied as cheekily as she could manage, smiling at him as she took a seat at his side.

"Uh huh," he got out in mock disbelief before breaking out into a violent fit of coughing.

JJ immediately reached over and grasped his shoulders in an attempt to keep him steady. "Whoa, whoa there, big guy," she said, alarmed, "Breathe. Breathe, David." When the fit finally calmed, she was horrified to see a rather large trickle of blood making its way down the side of his mouth. "Deep breaths, come on."

"I'm not doin' so good, JJ," he told her after a few moments, gasping in pain. "I'm not gonna make it."

A glimpse of panic flittered across her well-schooled face at not only his admission, but also the way in which he said it. There was no joking in his tone like usual. He meant it.

"You _are_ going to make it, David. You're going to be fine." She was using the tone she used when speaking to the press, the no-nonsense '_I know what I'm talking about'_ tone. "Just fine, even if that means I have to haul you out of these woods myself."

"Mountains," he rasped.

It took her a few seconds to understand what he was saying. "Woods. Mountains. Same difference," was her reply. "The point is that you're going to be _fine_. Do you understand me?"

He shook his head, coughing harshly again as more blood began to bubble up from his throat, spilling out of his mouth. "Please, JJ," he pleaded breathlessly, pure fear etched across his face, "Please tell them…" His voice was now fading.

Frowning deeply, JJ swallowed hard at the lump in her throat and then leaned forward over him. "Tell who what, David?" she asked hoarsely.

"My-my wife and kids," he wheezed, "T-t-tell them that I love them." Tears were now escaping both his eyes and JJ's. "Th-that they were everything that made me happy. That they were just…everything to me."

"You're gonna tell them that yourself when we get you home, ok?" She knew it was overly cliché, but she didn't care. She needed him to believe that he was going to make it. _She_ needed to believe that he was going to make it.

He grabbed her arm forcefully, looking her right in the eye. "Please, JJ. _Please_. P-promise you'll tell them."

Biting her bottom lip to keep from crying outright, she nodded quickly. "Ok," she quickly conceded, sniffling.

"Promise me." His voice was failing as more blood continued to bubble up out of his throat.

She took his hand and squeezed it. "I promise."

He nodded, his eyes growing distant.

"David," JJ tried, squeezing his hand again. "David, stay with me." He was still shallowly breathing, but otherwise, there was no response. She grasped either side of his face, trying to get him to focus on her. "Come on, come on. Stay with me, David. _Stay with me_!"

His hazel eyes settled on her blue ones and his hand tightened around hers for a brief moment before one last shaky breath escaped his lips and he went limp, all signs of life leaving his eyes.

"David?" JJ said a bit tentatively. There was no response. "No no, come on, Dave." There was a desperate hitch in her voice. She felt for his pulse but there was nothing. Her heart was in her throat.

On instinct, she began CPR. Fifteen compressions. Two breaths. Repeat. And yet, still no response. "Dammit, David. Come on!" She tried again with the same results. Her rising voice was really drawing attention now.

"JJ?" It was Emily's concerned voice, but the blonde ignored it and continued compressions.

"Come _on_, David! _Breathe_!" She was now practically pounding on his chest in desperation. It was making her own head and side pound with agonizing pain, and she was starting to almost hyperventilate under the pressure building in her chest. "_Breathe!_"

"JJ! _JJ!_" A strong arm circled her torso and pulled her back from the dead man. It was Morgan. He half-carried, half-dragged her several feet away from Hampton before roughly settling the both of them down on the ground. His grip didn't loosen.

JJ struggled a bit to free herself, but soon gave up, in too much pain to keep it up. She watched as Hotch checked Hampton's pulse and then with a resigned sigh, rose back to his feet. He walked over to her and Morgan, crouching in front of them. She didn't look at him, though. Instead, she continued to stare over his shoulder at David's still body.

"JJ," Hotch tried softly. When her gaze remained the same, he used his hand to turn her face in order to get her to look directly at him. "You tried your best." He spoke to her very calmly, watching in her eyes as well-trained professionalism struggled for dominance over the inner turmoil. "There was nothing more that could have been done."

A minute passed, and then a wall went up, professionalism winning. JJ's expression steeled and she finally nodded. She didn't believe him and she knew that he knew it, but neither said anything.

Hotch nodded in return. He would let her deal with it on her own time. If and when she decided she wanted to talk about it, he would be there to listen, to counsel, to console. It was a bigger part of his job than most thought. He gave Morgan a solemn glance before rising back to his feet.

There was a slight pause and then Morgan finally let go of JJ. He climbed to his feet as well. He had easily read Hotch's look as _'Give her a little space,' _and he was going to do just that. He knew from experience that she was going to need a little while to process what she had just witnessed. He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze of support before he followed after Hotch to check on Emily and Reid.

JJ watched them both leave for a few moments before returning her eyes to Hampton's body. She swallowed hard. She wasn't one to believe in things such as jinxes, but she still couldn't help but feel responsible in one way or another.

How was she going to face his family? She had spoken to many grieving families before, but this was so much different. She _knew_ this family. She knew Jill, Parker, and Claire Hampton. She couldn't just use her usual "I'm sorry for your loss," line. Simple platitudes wouldn't cut it in this case. So how was she going to tell this family that their beloved husband and father was gone forever?

_First the rest of us have to get out of here alive, _the logical voice side of her brain reminded her. The thought made her look the others' way, watching for a few moments as they seemed to be checking one another over for serious injures. She silently prayed they wouldn't lose anyone else. She wasn't sure she could handle that.

Finally, with a heavy sigh, she rose shakily to her feet and walked back over to the David's body. His eyes were closed now. Hotch had closed his eyes. She swallowed hard again and then slipped off the fitted jacket she had been wearing and draped it over his face. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. She felt like crying, but kept the tears at bay. Now wasn't the time. Survival first.

TBC…

(A/N: This chapter was filled with a lot more JJ and a lot less of everyone else than I had originally planned, but after _Cassandra30_ asked I not kill the pilots outright like I had been planning on, this idea came to me. Don't worry though, there will be a lot more of everyone else in the next chapter, I promise! Hoped ya liked this chapter and as always, remember to CLICKY CLICKY! Reviews are life! Hehe! THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL THE REVIEWS!! –HUGS TO ALL–)


	3. Boom

_Disclaimer_: They're not mine. I'm just playing with them.

_**Author's Notes**_**: Hey all!! Look who's back!! Or look what's back. One or the other! Yes, my laptop that had this story on it was out of commission for a while, but it has FINALLY been fixed! EVERYONE CHEER! So yes, more of **_**Crash and Burn**_** to come! And now, ON WITH THE STORY!**

**SHOUT OUTS!**

_princess89_ – I'm glad you found chapter 2 very gripping! A writer is always aiming for something like that, and I'm so happy I was able to achieve it!

_mabelreid_ – I try my best to keep everyone in character and I'm glad that you found JJ's reaction realistic! Thanks for reading!

_Sarmoti_ – I love that you loved it! LOL! As for Reid/JJ, yeah, I'm not really going for that. I'm aiming to keep it as much like the show as possible.

_hotchner_ – Keep those hopes alive! The team is gonna need them to make it through this story! LOL!

_ReidLover12_ – Awesome? Awww, thanks! Oh, and don't worry, there will be plenty of struggles for everyone to go through!

_JMcK_ – HAHA! Yes, I think every chapter should, and every episode of Criminal Minds, should have a ton of JJ, too!

_withoutatacegirl_ – YAY for chapter 2 being as going as chapter 1! Hopefully chapter 3 will live up to them as well!

_SpencerReidFan89_ – WOO! It came off as sad! I was totally aiming for sad. LOL! And yes, fatherly is what I was going for for Hotch. Thanks for the review!

_Mia Shade_ – I would never kill Reid! I only kill "red shirts", haha. Here's the next chapter!

_Ally_ – Thanks! I know it wasn't exactly "SOON", but here's your update regardless! Sorry for the huge wait!

_vamoarribauruguay_ – BREATHE! You will get all the answers to your questions! Just keep reading!

_sydcasy_ – Thanks for the review!! Reviews are love. :-D

_Ryuzaki/SpencerReid_ – Nice to meet you, Ryuzaki! And thank you for the reviews!

_Ischia_ – You'll find out what happened to Reid in this chapter. –grin– Hope you like it!

_alex_ – Awww, crying?! Wow… I was going for emotional, but powerful? That is a HUGE compliment. Thanks SO much! And I'm glad you love this story! Sorry for the long wait. Now that I have my comp working again, updates will be A LOT faster!

_PrInCeSsFBi_ – LOL Your wish is my command! Glad you love it!

_wavscaper_ – Excellent story? I'm blushing! Thanks!

_Lo_ – Thanks for the review! And I'm sure Reid loves you, too! Hehe!

_Ms. Anonymous_ – No worries!! This story has not been abandoned! It just went MIA for a little while, but I've now recovered it and plan to plugging right along!

_Wav_ – _Crash and Burn_ has been retrieved from the dead comp and revived! Expect a lot more soon!

_angelfire365_ – Thanks for the review! Here's your update (a little delayed…)!

_Lola_ – ROFL!!! No, I didn't die, but my computer did! But I finally got it fixed! So here's the next chapter!

_fivexfive_ – Sorry for the huge delay on the next chapter! I'm glad you're enjoying the writing. I'm trying my best to have everything make sense and keep everyone in character! Thanks for the review!

_writergirl99_ – LOL! I'm glad you love it! Thank you for the review!

_Coldbone_ – WOO! More love for the story! _Crash and Burn_ loves you, too!

_Angelus-Summers_ – LOOK! Compy got fixed! YAY! Hahaha! And I am SOOO looking forward to reading your JJCentric stories! I have no doubt they'll be awesome!

---

**CHAPTER 3 – Boom**

"Have you ever broken a bone before?" Morgan asked in an amused tone as he watched Emily bite down on her lip as he secured another binding around the sticks he was using to splint her arm. She wasn't quite sure how she had broken it, but knew the moment that the plane had stilled after the crash that it _definitely _had been broken.

"Yes," she replied through clenched teeth, looking a bit green.

"How many?"

"One."

"Which one?"

"Clavicle."

Morgan bit back a grin. "Collarbone, huh? How'd you manage to break that?" He was trying to keep talking in order to keep her mind off of what he was doing, but it didn't seem to be working too well.

She gave him a look, a flash of annoyance in her eyes. What he was doing hurt and making her talking was _not_ helping! "I fell off a horse." When she was younger, her mother had made that she take riding lessons. English, of course, not Western, and at first, Emily had hated it. At the time, a time at which she was only eight years old, horses were big and scary, but her mother had insisted she go.

Every Wednesday afternoon –for Tuesday was piano and Thursday was swimming–, Mrs. Whitman, her nanny, would take her to Irish Acres where she was forced to brush down, tack up, and ride a monstrous palomino Thoroughbred by the name of Bruin. The horse had scared her to death at first, but she soon fell in love with him, and he with her. She got to a point when all she wanted to do was go riding and just be around Bruin, but on one fateful day while practicing jumping, Emily was thrown from Bruin and broke her collarbone. Her mother wouldn't let her return after that. Emily had been heartbroken.

"Ok, ok," he surrendered with a smirk when her tone and expression practically demanded that he drop it. He looked over at Reid and Hotch. "How about you, Reid? Ever broken a bone?"

Reid was in far worse shape than the rest of them. He had a Compound fracture of the right leg. Both his tibia and fibula had broken when he had tried to get up during their "descent" to help the unconscious JJ and had gotten his leg caught between his seat and the table when the plane hit the ground. It had snapped instantly and the former of the two bones had torn through his flesh, now protruding out grotesquely for all to see. Hotch was currently trying to get the bleeding under control and get a splint on it.

The young genius turned his head towards Morgan and nodded, his face seeming stuck in a permanent grimace of pain. "Eight," he rasped out, "Counting this."

"Ouch," Morgan sympathized. "How'd you managed that?"

Reid swallowed hard, closing his eyes for a moment against the agony that was shooting up his leg. "Um, Colles' fracture after falling out of a tree when I was seven," he began, every word an effort to get out. "Fracture of the nasal bone when I was ten after correcting the grammar of an older adolescent with a violent streak."

Both Prentiss and Morgan winced at that.

Reid paused a moment then, biting back a cry of pain as Hotch began to wrap the area where his tibia was coming out of his skin with bandages from the onboard medkit he had retrieved from the plane.

"What else?" Morgan pressed, wanting to keep him talking if only to keep the poor guy from passing out.

Panting, Reid closed his eyes again for a few seconds before opening them again, and, with even more effort and strain than before, continuing, "Fractured frontal bone from tripping down a flight of stairs when I was thirteen." He had been carrying too many books to see over at the time. "Fracture of the Sternum when I was first tried to learn to drive." He had driven into a pole. "And fractures of the left second and third metatarsals…" He didn't need to explain the last two as everyone already knew he had gotten them during his kidnapping by Tobias Henkel.

"So what'cha got now is a total cakewalk then, right kid?" Morgan was trying to keep things light despite how dire the situation really was.

Reid actually cracked a bit of a smile at that, still panting. "Not sure cake_walk_ is the word I would have chosen."

"Has anyone trying their cell phones?" Emily suddenly asked, the idea having just come to her.

"I did earlier," Hotch replied, not taking his eyes off of the task at hand. "There was no reception."

Both Morgan and Prentiss pulled theirs out and tried as well. Same results.

"Ditto," Morgan sighed. That would be too easy, and whatever cosmic critter had decided to play this little trick on them obviously didn't want that.

"What about the radio?"

Everyone looked up to see JJ approaching. "Was it destroyed in the crash?" She had seen the cockpit only briefly and just judging by all the damage she had seen, she was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

"Yeah," Morgan replied. "So smashed I don't even think Mr. Physics Magic and all his wily powers of geniusness could fix it."

"'Geniusness' isn't a word," Reid croaked, "And besides, while I know the fundamentals of how a radio works, I haven't actually built one before."

"Does that mean you couldn't?" Emily asked, curious.

"No," he replied, sucking in a sharp, pain-filled breath. "It just means I haven't actually built one before."

Morgan snorted in amusement and even a small smirk graced Hotch's lips.

JJ gingerly sat down a foot or two away from the group, needing to both have space, but be close at the same time. She watched as Hotch and Morgan continued their task of patching up the others, the latter finishing by lastly jury-rigging a sling for Emily's splinted arm to rest in. The brunette looked more than relieved to have the whole thing over with. She thanked the man with a quick smile.

"Not so fast, girl," Derek said as Emily, now having had her arm tended to, tried to extricate herself from the big man's care by scooting backward away from him and more towards JJ. He shot her a smile and then grabbed a few things from the medkit. "Here, lean forward."

With a fair amount of reluctance, Emily did as asked. She leaned forward, careful not to jar her arm, and allowed Morgan to clean away the blood, disinfect the wound, and then use butterfly stitches to hold together the rather nasty laceration above her eyebrow. "Done?" she questioned when he leaned back to inspect his work.

He nodded. "Done."

Emily let out a _'Thank God'_ sigh of relief, looking heavenward as she did. Morgan shook his head at her and then looked at JJ. "Are you hurt at all?" he asked, his expression softening.

"M'fine," was JJ's immediate answer. She obviously wasn't, not the way her head and side were burning, and she knew that, but didn't feel like she had the right to complain, not after all the suffering she had witnessed already and was witnessing now.

Morgan eyed her for a few moments and seemed as though he were about to say something, but Hotch interrupted him before he could.

"Give me a hand, would you, Morgan?"

"Yeah." His eyes lingered on JJ a second longer before he turned and began helping the other man continue with the job of splinting Reid's mangled leg.

There was a long silence. JJ's eyes had dropped to the ground, unable to watch Reid in pain. It reminded too much of when Henkel had had him, and it made her feel ill.

Emily seemed to immediately pick up on the blonde's discomfort. How could she not? She was a profiler after all, and to be quite frank, JJ wasn't making it hard. Quietly sliding closer to the other woman, Emily adjusted her broken her arm in to a slightly more comfortable position and then a bit awkwardly held out a clean wad of gauze with her other arm.

JJ's looked up at the brunette, frowning slightly in confusion.

"You, uh," Emily started slowly, "you have blood around…" She gestured toward her mouth.

Glancing away uncomfortably for a quick moment, JJ took the gauze from Emily and then the bottle of water that the woman offered next. She didn't say anything. She poured a little of the water onto the gauze before she began to wiping her mouth, wiping away Hampton's blood that she hadn't even realized was there. After a few more moments, she hesitantly looked back at Emily. The other woman nodded silently, letting her know that she had gotten all the blood off.

"Alright kid, we're done."

Morgan's voice brought JJ's gaze up once again. She watched as Hotch tied the last knot of the bandage holding the splint around Reid's leg together and then gently patted the younger man's uninjured leg for support.

Reid's eyes slowly opened and blinked a couple of times. He had closed them against the pain a minute or two before. A shuddering breath passed through his lips and a look of relief was evident for all to see.

"What now?" Emily asked, glancing around at everyone.

"We've gathered some supplies," Hotch began. "There's more on the plane that Morgan and I will get in a few minutes. They're bound to realize we're missing, track our flight plan, and locate us. We'll build a shelter and just hold up here until that happens."

"Do we have enough supplies to last until then?"

Hotch opened his mouth to replied, but before he could, there was a loud whooshing sound and then suddenly the mountainside was rocked by a shattering explosion.

TO BE CONTINUED!

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(A/N: MUAHAHAHA!! Cliffie! ...No pun intended? –pause– Uh, yes, anyway. SEE?! I told you I'd be back! My awesome friend, Vince, was able to save my broken computer and get my files back. So, THANKS VINCE!!! It's not at 100 percent yet. Things to download, things to upload, etc, etc. But it did enable me to get _Crash and Burn_ off of it, and thus to you, my wonderful readers. So with all that said, you know what to do! CLICKY CLICKY and leave me some love!)


	4. Burn

_Disclaimer_: Just playin' with them…

_**AUTOR'S NOTES! PLEASE READ!:**_ Before I continue with the story, I would first like to state that this writer's strike is driving me mad. Just pay these awesome people what you owe them! Because I guarantee that I, for one, will not be watching ANY of the reality TV garbage they'll probably use to fill in the gaps. I side with the writers! Stay strong! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!

Also, out of respect for the writers on strike, I have several friends who are refusing to post their stories until the strike is over. I personally cannot bring myself to do that. I support the writers, but in this dire time, I think we, the fans, need fics now more than ever. So, don't fret, I'll continue to write my stories and post them. Show your support for the writers by sending a letter, an e-mail, or making a phone call to the head honchos. You can get their contact information on the Criminal Minds Fanatic Blog (http://criminalmindsfanatic (DOT) blogspot (DOT) com/). They need us, and frankly, we need them. I mean, I don't know about you, but I don't think I'll be able to make it without my shows. Thanks for reading this.

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**Shout Outs!**

_Wavescaper_ – I'm glad I my friend Vince to get the comp up and running too! I was lost without it! And I'm SO psyched that you're enjoying BOTH of my stories! Rock on!

_princess89_ – I know! Technology is so great, but it can also be SUCH a hassle!

_Musica Diabolos_ – Thanks! Yeah, poor Reidy is always getting the short end of the stick, isn't he? LOL!

_vamoarribauruguay_ – I hurt Reid to appease the Reid whumpers, LOL!! And it's going to add to my JJ plotline. And no worries, Morgan will get his own whumpage! Just be patient! –hugs–

_Sarmoti_ – I would NEVER forget you!! And don't worry, I plan to keep this story on the steadiest pace my schedule will allow. You won't be left hanging like you were before!

_SAJC_ – As a fellow procrastinator, I'm glad I could help! LOL! And thank you so much for the compliments! I'm totally beaming right now!

_Vince_ – YOU!!!! –shakes fist– Shame on you for not reading and reviewing before now! Hehehe! And yes, thanks again for fixin' ol lappy! And yes, I do enjoy gruesome. Hel-LO! _30 Days of Night_ 2x and wanted to go again! Haha! Thank you for reviewing, and also, "Get in the car." "What?" (And you better reply to this one this time!)

_MDarKspIrIt_ – Thanks for the review! I'm glad you're enjoying the story!

_sydcasy_ – HEHE You'll find out! Here's your update!

_Mellow girl_ – YAY for really liking it! Thank you for the review!

_Coldbone_ – So far the computer is working with only a few hitches. It shouldn't prevent me from updating my stories anymore! Glad you love it!

_tearbos_ – Isn't that in the _Criminal Minds_ fanfic writing rules? That Reid always has to get his ass kicked? LOL! I'm not generally a fan of it, but it serves my purpose for this story, hehehe. And Vince says that you're welcome!

_Cassandra30_ – Missed you, too!! Don't worry, I'll try my best to make the chapters a little longer for you! Haha! But you know how it is, sometimes it just feels right to end it in certain places…but I digress. Thanks for the review! –hugs–

_Ally_ – I'm glad I made your day! Sorry it took so long to update! Evil computer! Haha!

_smokeylove_ – HAHA Yeah, sorry about the HUGE wait! It won't happen again…unless the computer crashes again. Let's pray it doesn't!

_ReidLover12_ – Amazing? Awww, thanks!

_scc1fan_ – Thank you for the compliments! And I'll see what I can do about Hotch for you. –winks–

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**CHAPTER 4 – Burn **

JJ's eyes slowly opened, blinking a couple of times and coughing at the smoke that filled her lungs. She rolled onto her back for a second before she agonizingly pushed herself up into a sitting position to look around. Her ears were ringing so loudly that beyond that, she couldn't hear a thing. All she could do was see the chaos before her eyes.

The plane was in ruins, a violent blaze shooting skyward, feeding off of the fuel. Any supplies that they might have used to prolong their survival until their rescue came was now up in flames and there was nothing they could do about it.

JJ turned her attention over to the others. It was like a horrible scene out of a movie. One of those scenes where all you could hear was a harsh buzzing sound, but you can see everything. She watched as Hotch pushed himself from off of where he had thrown himself on top of Reid to protect the younger man, and after quickly checking him, moved over to Morgan.

The big guy was obviously cursing up a storm, but JJ couldn't quite make out what he was saying. It was all muffled. He was reaching down toward his thigh. Her eyes traveled downward to where she saw a large piece of shrapnel sticking out of the side of his left thigh. By the looks of it, he had been trying to do the same with Emily, protecting her from the blast with his body, when he had been hit. His wound was bleeding pretty badly.

Hotch was saying something to Morgan as he pressed his hands down around the shrapnel in an attempt to stem the flow of blood. By then, Emily was sitting up as well. She used her free arm to dig frantically through the first aid kit. She pulled out a couple of wads of gauze and placed them over Hotch's hands, giving him leave to move them so that he could deal with the shrapnel while she tried to keep pressure on the wound.

JJ could see the desperation in Reid's eyes. He wanted to be helping so badly, but he was pretty much useless as he was. He was trying though, saying something to Morgan that made the man smile just for a second before he grimaced again.

A few seconds later, words began to register in JJ's brain. They were coming at her fuzzily and she could only seem to make out some of them. Her eyes shot to Emily. The brunette's lips were moving and it was more than obvious to see that she was calling the younger woman's name.

"-ay, -elp me," Emily was saying. It took the blonde a moment to comprehend, but when she did, she immediately moved forward on her knees and, grabbing some more gauze, pressed her hands down around the other side of the shrapnel that Emily's one hand couldn't reach.

"-tay st…Mor…" Hotch was telling the man.

JJ interpreted it to mean "Stay still." The ringing in one ear was beginning to die down quite a bit more and she was starting to be able to make out more of what was being said.

"-ammit, Ho'ch!" Morgan cursed. He could not believe this was happening to him. He had managed to make it through a plane crash with nothing more than a few minor cuts and bruises. He thought that he was going to be ok, that he was going to be able to stay at his best for the team, but now he had a piece of, in his words, "Goddamn metal" sticking out of his "freakin' thigh!"

"We need to stabilize it, Morgan," Hotch stated, "It'll cause a lot more damage if we pull it out."

"I don't care, Hotch!" the other man argued. "I am completely useless with this thing stuck in my leg. Just pull it out and we'll deal with the damage after that."

"No way," Emily immediately interrupted. "It's too close to your artery. If we pull it out, it could cause massive bleeding and we are not prepared to deal with that out here."

Morgan pushed himself up into a position where he could better see his wound. With the protest of everyone, he took hold of the shrapnel and with a hissing grimace, wiggled it just a bit. Biting back another string of curses, he took a deep breath and then turned his eyes to Hotch. "It's not that deep. I'm takin' it out, Hotch."

"Morgan–"

"No, I'm takin' it out." The man was determined and knew that if he left it in his thigh, he'd be as useless to the rest of the team as Reid was at the moment. There was no way that Hotch, Prentiss, and JJ could haul two guys with bum legs around. And they were definitely going to have to move now.

"Morgan," Emily tried, "Just let us put a pressure wrap around it and wait for rescue. There's a chance it could get infected, but we're better equipped to deal with that that you bleeding out, so please…"

Morgan gave Prentiss a tolerant look and was about to reply, but was cut off by Hotch.

"We can't stay here and wait for rescue."

"Why?" the brunette questioned.

It was Reid who answered. "The fire."

Hotch nodded. "The fire from the plane is spreading to the trees. If we stay here, we're going to be surrounded by it. It'll kill us long before rescue can come." He looked around at every member of the team, his expression grave. "We have to move, and we have to do it quickly."

JJ's hearing, at least in one ear, had come back enough now that she could understand what was being said. She didn't like this whole idea of leaving the plane crash, but the more she stared at the wreckage, the more she agreed with Hotch. The flames were hot and they weren't dying down at all. With the amount of fuel the jet had been carrying at the time, it was likely that it would burn for hours, if not a few days, before it finally died down. But by then, the forest would be ablaze, and that did not bode well for the team at all.

They were going to have to move if they wanted to stay alive. She just hoped that when the rescue teams did come, they'd be able to spot the wreckage through all the fire that would undoubtedly be surrounding it and would be able to determine the best search area in order to find them.

Emily asked the obvious questioned. "And how are we going to move with Reid and Morgan unable to walk?"

"I can walk," Morgan stated stubbornly. "I just need to lose the shrapnel."

"Pulling it out could–"

The woman didn't get to finish what she was saying before Morgan suddenly grabbed the piece of metal and yanked it out of his thigh with a muffled cry.

"Morgan!" Emily and Hotch exclaimed simultaneously.

He gave them both a panting grin, earning a glare from each. "Told you it wasn't that deep." He was right. The wound was nasty and jagged, and bleeding, but thankfully it didn't seem as if it had hit his artery. There wasn't enough blood for that.

Emily pulled out some antiseptic in the form of peroxide while Hotch got out a pressure wrap. There was an almost vengeful glint in her eye as she had JJ unscrew the cap for her and then poured it on Morgan's wound.

The man let out a hissing yelped and the woman smiled. It was his turn to glare at her.

Hotch ignored two and instead kept his attention on the wound. It was going to need stitches when they finally did get the hell out of there, but for now, the pressure wrap was going to have to do. He wrapped it around Morgan's thigh with little regard for how much he might be hurting the man. He just wanted to get it on there properly and then get his team the hell out of dodge.

JJ finally spoke up, her voice elevated as her hearing still wasn't back to normal in one side. "How are we going to move Reid?"

Emily looked at her, frowning slightly. "You don't have to yell, JJ. We're right he…" She trailed off when she noticed that the blonde's right ear was bleeding. "Oh God."

There was an instant "What?" all round.

"I think the explosion ruptured one of JJ's eardrums."

Reaching up, JJ felt the wetness trailing down her neck from her ear and immediately frowned. She pulled her hand back to see blood on her fingertips. She frowned. "Great," she grumbled.

"It's ok, JJ," Reid said, his voice a little strained.

"Yeah, you've got two ears," Morgan tried to joke, earning himself another glare from everyone except Hotch.

"No, what I meant was that on average, a perforated eardrum heals itself within two months," Reid clarified, "Granted you don't get an infection, of course, but that's generally rare as long as you get it treated."

"Great," she repeated.

"Generally rare?" Morgan questioned, his usual smirk present. "No statistics for that one, kid?"

Reid raised an eyebrow. "Do you need statistics?"

"No," JJ cut in. Now on top of the agonizing throb in both her skull and side, her ear was now aching like mad. This day was just getting crappier and crappier, and the fact that they were planning on heading off into the woods was not helping her mood at all. She hated the woods.

"Ok, so back to JJ's question," Emily said slowly, glancing around at everyone. "How are we going to move Reid?"

"We'll have to make a litter," Hotch replied. "We need two large branches, preferably as straight as possible, and then we'll use what materials we have to tie them together. And then we'll carry Reid like on it." This answer seemed to satisfy everyone. He nodded. "Alright, JJ, come with me. We're going to find the branches. You two can gather everything the rest of the materials," he said, looking at Morgan and Prentiss.

Everyone got to work. It took them a few minutes to find workable branches, and all the walking around made JJ both queasy and dizzy, but they still managed to do it. When they made it back to the others, Morgan and Prentiss had piled up everything they figured would be useful. Hotch quickly began putting the thing together while everyone else watched.

"Wow, Hotch, where'd you learn to do that?" Emily asked, amused and amazed at how fast and efficient he was at putting the makeshift stretcher together.

Hotch didn't speak. Instead he just held his ring, middle, and forefinger up.

Emily grinned openly. "You were a Boy Scout?"

He glanced sideways at the woman, but didn't reply.

"That surprises you?" Reid questioned, seemingly amused despite the obvious pain he was in.

"No," Emily replied, smirking, "I actually find it quite fitting."

"Done," Hotch said after a few more moments.

Reid suddenly didn't look so amused. "And now the fun part…"

Morgan gave the younger man a sympathetic look before glancing at Hotch. "We lift on three?"

Hotch nodded.

They counted down to three and as quickly as they could, transferred Reid from the ground to the litter. The move had been more than painful despite their efforts for it not to be –the now pale face of Spencer spoke to that– but it was done and now they could get out of there before they were burned alive.

Everyone seemed to take a breath and just stared at the plane for a few moments. The fire was moving closer, getting hotter; its dancing flames, though mystifying, spelling out certain demise for those who dare tangle with it.

"You think you can handle one end of Reid?" Hotch asked Morgan, receiving a nod of confirmation in response. The older man nodded and turned to the women. "Gather up everything we have here and then let's get out of here."

JJ and Emily quickly got to work, gathering up what supplies they did have and shoving it all in anything that would carry it.

"Which way?" Morgan asked as he and Hotch rose to their feet and looked around.

It was Reid who answered. He rattled something off about the airspeed velocity of the plane, designated flight plan, and the time they had been in the air before the crash. "So if we use that formula, we can extrapolate our general location and go from there."

Morgan smirked. "Ok, Doctor Reid, how about you pick a direction?"

Reid gave him a look and then paused for a brief moment to work everything out in his head. He pointed. "That way," he stated decisively, "And down the mountain. If my calculations are correct, there should be a town relatively close by once we get down there. We should be able to see it from up here if we can find a clearing."

Glancing at Hotch, Morgan shrugged. "Works for me?"

Hotch nodded in agreement and then looked at the other two. "Do we have everything?"

"What little we have, yes," Emily replied glumly as she slung a bag over her good shoulder.

"We'll make it last," he tried to assure her, assure everyone. "Everyone ready to move?"

He got nods from everyone except JJ. The blonde was staring off in the direction of the two dead pilots. She didn't want to leave them behind to burn. She didn't think it was fair, but logically she also knew that they couldn't bring the bodies with them and digging graves would take too much time. The fire would be upon them before they could even get one finished.

Suddenly Hotch's voice was right next to her uninjured hear. His tone was soft and calm. "We'll come back for them, JJ," he told her. She brought her eyes around to meet his. "We'll get them to their families."

Despite knowing the fire would undoubtedly leave nothing more than bones behind, in that instant, she believed him, trusted him to make that happen. Swallowing, she nodded.

He gave her a gentle look that only she could see. "Ready?" She nodded again.

Without another word, he moved to the front of Reid's stretch and grabbed the poles. He waited until Morgan had done the same in the back and then the two men lifted the injured one. "Ok, let's get out of here."

TO BE CONTINUED!!

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(A/N: I think this chapter was a little longer than the others. I hope you enjoyed it! There will be more coming soon, as I said at the top of the chapter. Remember to support our amazing _Criminal Minds_ writing staff, and also support this lowly little CM fanfic author by droppin' me a few reviews! LOL! You know what to do! CLICKY CLICKY! MUAH!)


	5. Fault

_Disclaimer_: Just playin' with them…

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**SHOUT OUTS!**

_SAJC_ – Thank you! I'm glad everyone is coming off the way they're meant to! I can't stand when people are written out of character.

_SpencerReid_ – Thanks once again! Here's your update!

_Vince_ – Well done! You got it! And you know how I am with bloody stuff! Can't get enough! "Two little princesses dancing in a room…" :-P You're up!

_Angelus-Summers_ – Awww, thanks so much! Great author? You're making me blush!

_Sarah Kent-Duke_ – Hi!! Welcome to the wonder Criminal Minds fandom! We're, especially me, are glad to have you! I was totally going for touching at that moment with JJ and Hotch. I'm glad it came across that way! Thanks for the review!

_MDarKspIrIt_ – Thank you!

_smokeylove_ – Ok, so the update wasn't exactly SOON, but an update is an update, right? LOL! Thank you for the review!

_Television-Fanatic_ – Aww, great? THANKS! Here's your update!

_Cassandra30_ – I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter!

_hotchner_ – Aww, you're welcome! I'm just glad you like it so much!! And yes, always trust the Hotch, for the Hotch is wonderful.

_scc1fan_ – YAY! Review! Thanks Kas! LOL! Yeah, I thought it was very Morgan-like to just pull it out. He wants to be able to help, not just sit around. He's a man's man! Haha.

_RainaParker_ – That is EXACTLY why I wrote this story! I wanted them to be out of their element, to force them to deal with things like their emotions and so on. I'm glad you picked up on that!

_Racquet_ – Well, now that you've said please… LOL! Love that you love it!

_ReidLover12_ – Yeah, I totally wish they'd do some sort of off-the-wall episode like this, something that takes the team out of their element and make them deal with things like their emotions.

_tearbos_ - Hey now, ya always gotta spread the pain! LOL! And yes, young grasshopper, your senses are leading you in the right direction. But you're gonna have to wait to see exactly what trouble I'm gonna get them in! Muahaha!

_vamoarribauruguay_ – Wow! Exellent? Fantastic? Awesome? I'm so flattered! And I'm even more pleased that you find it well enough written that you can actually picture everything out in your mind. I was totally going for that! Rock on!

_Mellow girl_ – HEHEHE! I thought Hotch as a Boy Scout would totally be fitting as well!

_maddyfin11_ – YAY! You love it! I'm so pleased!

_butterfly-92_ – I'm glad ya love it! Here's your update!

_Linda66_ – HOORAY! Another JJ fan! And you're not sick at all! I am all about the whump, the angst, and the pain, too! HAHA! And don't worry, the others will notice JJ's injuries soon enough!

_Elle_ – Oh my God, I'm glad you love it!! LOL! –HUGS–

_bumblebee917_ – No worries. They're profilers. They'll figure out JJ is injured soon enough! Thanks for the review!!

_TutorGirlml_ – Thank you SO much! I tend to go for maddening with everything so everything will probably end that way. Hehehe! But no worries, the chapters will make up for it! …I hope!

_FeistyFeral_ – No no, thank YOU for the awesome review! I hurt Reid for a specific reason, hehe…because I find him the hardest character to write for. :-P I know, lame reason, but yeah. Aaaaand I digress. Thanks again for the review!

_Coldbone_ – Sorry to keep you hanging for so long! Life. It's a crazy thing. But anyway, here's an update and the next one will be up a lot faster than this one was! Promise!

_Evan Lorne_ – Well, someone has to not be hurt! And technically, he is hurt in some way or another. I mean, they were in a plane crash. I just haven't expounded on his injuries. And besides, I have something special in store for him! HEHE!

I HOPE I GOT EVERYONE!! If not, yell at me in a review and I'll give you a special shout out for you in the next chapter!

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**CHAPTER 5 – Fault**

JJ wasn't sure how long they had been walking, but it felt like hours. She could tell the sun was beginning to set by the darkening of the forest and the chill now filling the air. She dare not complain though. If the others could keep going, she could. For now she was just going to continue to watch her breath as it whitened and rose upward with each pant.

By God though, she swore once they got out of there, she was going to have Garcia track down whoever invented high heels so that she could severely injure them. Yes, sure, she was wearing boots, but they still had a three in heel on them, and God did they hurt! She wished she would have followed Emily's example and begun dressing more like Morgan with the combat boots and fitted cargo pants, but alas, as a media liaison, there was little need for such attire. When you were dealing with victims or victims' families, or giving press conference, professional dress was practically a requirement and for a woman, that generally meant heels.

"How you holdin' up?" Emily quietly asked JJ as the pair followed the three men.

JJ glanced at her for a second before looking away again. "Wishing I had gone with flats for the flight back."

Emily looked downward and noticed the dark brown suede wedge heel boots JJ was wearing. "Oh, ouch." She gave the other woman a sympathetic look. "At least you didn't wear your stilettos?"

"Yeah, thank God for small favors…"

"What'cha talkin' about back there, ladies?" Morgan called over his shoulder, his tone light.

Emily looked at him. "Shoes."

The man did a double take. "We're in the middle of the forest and you're talkin' about…shoes?"

The brunette smirked slightly. "Not quite in the context you're thinking, but yes," she told him before motioning down to JJ's boots. She watched his eyes drift downward and after a second, a look realization passed over his face. He gave JJ the same sympathetic look Emily had. "The curse of being a woman."

"Or you when Garcia is playing with Photoshop," Emily replied wickedly.

Morgan nearly balked. "…She didn't."

Emily simply grinned.

"Oh, when we get back, I am gonna to have a _serious_ talk with that woman…"

Hotch wasn't oblivious to the banter going on behind him. He was relieved that the others were trying to make the best of things, but for him, it was all business. He had to keep them all alive until they could be rescued. That was his objective, his mission, his burden. And he accepted it with no reservations. They were _his_ team after all.

"Shouldn't we be finding some sort of shelter for the night?" JJ asked, trying her best not to sound as completely breathless as she was.

"I would say yes," Hotch replied slowly, glancing over his shoulder at the others for a moment. "But that fire is traveling pretty fast. If we stop, it's possible that it could catch up with us."

JJ glanced back in the direction they had come from. She could see the eerie, foreboding orange glow of the fire in the distance. It was still a ways away thankfully, but Hotch was right. If it found the right tinder, it was going to blow up and burn out the entire mountainside. They wouldn't have a chance if that happened.

"But it can't be safe to travel at night," Emily said pointed out, frowning, "Especially with you two carrying Reid."

Hotch opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by Reid.

"S'gonna rain…"

"What's that, kid?" Morgan questioned, leaning forward a bit so he could see Reid's ashen face.

The younger man swallowed, a slightly glazed look in his eyes. "Rain," he repeated. "It's going to rain." He pointed limply up at the sky as he watched it pass above the trees as he was carried by Hotch and Morgan. "The clouds –they're Cumulonimbus."

"Cumulonimbus? I really didn't pay that much attention in science class…" Morgan admitted with a smirk.

"It's the type of cloud that generally produces the most rain," Hotch clarified so Reid didn't have to exert himself.

"And thunderstorms," JJ added in between pants for breath. And then as if on cue, a crack of thunder rippled through the mountains.

Emily pulled a face. "Way to jinx us."

"Do you really believe in that sort of thing?" Morgan asked her, curious.

Emily shrugged with her good shoulder. "Not really, but it seemed like the thing to say."

JJ frowned deeply, glancing down at the ground. She didn't believe in jinxes, or at least she didn't think she did. She hadn't before, anyway. But after the crash… Well, she _had_ essentially "jinxed" the flight during her conversation with Cannon and Hampton, she woefully considered, and now both of them were dead, and Reid was half-way there. Even just the quick, passing moment that she considered the possibility that something like that could be true added a tremendous amount of guilt to JJ's already near-unbearable load.

She silently told herself that there was no such thing as jinxes or bad luck. There couldn't be. It was all just coincidence, nothing more. She was being completely irrational and it was all just in her head. She repeated it over and over almost like a prayer, almost like she was trying to somehow convince whatever Higher Being that might be out there to prove to her what she was telling herself was true.

But the guilt didn't dissipate. It didn't lessen _at all_. In just remained there, weighing down her heart and soul like a ton of bricks. It took her breath away, and this time it wasn't because of the agonizing throb in her side. It was the mere thought that all of this could actually be her fault, and that Cannon and Hampton had died because of her. And that if they didn't make it out of there, the team, _her family_, was going to die _because of her_.

The weather seemed to pick up on her mood and decided to mimic her feelings by letting out another loud crash of thunder before the darkened clouds suddenly opened up and began to release torrents of freezing rain. JJ didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Great," Morgan muttered, "Just freakin' great."

"Actually, it might be," Hotch stated, glancing upward at the sky for a moment.

Emily nodded, following his train of thought. "If it keeps up, it could put the fire out."

"Or at least give us the time to take a break," Morgan agreed.

"A break would be nice," JJ murmured, wrapping her arms carefully around herself as the rain quickly soaked through her thin dress shirt and the cold began to bore into her skin.

Everyone seemed to agree with that, but they need to find a place to stop first. It took about thirty minutes, but they eventually found a relatively open cave in the rock face. It wasn't particularly deep, but it would be enough to keep them out of the rain and maybe start a fire to warm them up a little…if they could.

TBC…

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(A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short and lacking in content. Life has been crazy lately with all this Christmas madness and trying to find an apartment in NYC for when I move there in the beginning of January to attend the NY Film Academy. I just haven't had a lot of time to write…not to mention my muse needs a good smack! I know what I want to write, but my muse just doesn't want to let me!

**SPECIAL SHOUT OUT**

I wanted to give a very special shout out to the owner, moderators, and members of the **criminal minds conversation** yahoo list, and to the **Criminal Minds Fanatic blogspot**. Y'all are all so awesome and I'm so proud to be a member of the list, and thank you CMF blogspot for keeping us all up to date on everything related to CM and the writer's strike!!

–LOVES AND HUGS-

Riley

I'm working on the next chapter. I'm hoping to have it up as soon as possible. Reviews are food for the muse so remember to CLICKY CLICKY!! Love to all!)


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